WATER LATEST: Alert remains in place

Scientists are still not able give water supplies the all-clear in large parts of Lancashire a week on for the cryptosporidium alarm being raised.

A summit meeting between Public Health England, the Drinking Water Inspectorate and United Utilities on Thursday afternoon agreed the advice to boil would continue for the time being.

A statement from United Utilities said: “The situation continues to improve each day, with traces of cryptosporidium reducing throughout the 2,500 miles of pipework in the affected area.

“We will not be in a position to lift the boil water notice until we are confident that supplies across the affected area are back to their usual extremely high standards.

“We’re continuing to liaise closely with the Drinking Water Inspectorate and Public Health England and meeting with them regularly to review the very latest test results.

“We cannot take any risks with public health and, in consultation with the other organisations, we will agree when we can lift the advice to boil your water.

“This will only be done when we can be absolutely certain there are no longer any traces of cryptosporidium in the water.

“We know how inconvenient this situation is and we thank you for your support and patience, once again, whilst we work around the clock to get back to normal.”

More than 300,000 households and businesses have been affected by the alert which followed traces of the parasite found in samples emanating from the Franklaw Water Treatment Plant near Garstang last Thursday.

United Utilities has pledged to compensate everyone.

For all our previous coverage on the water contamination situation in Lancashire visit the links below: